A knife's edge

GUYANA finds itself on a knife’s edge. If its High Court is allowed to proceed with today’s hearing of the challenge filed against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) there is no guarantee, whatever the result, that the outcome will bring the unrest to an end.

For that to be the case, all stakeholders must use their influence to calm tensions by complying with the court, committing to law and order – inclusive of election rules and public international law – and urging people to move beyond the racial fault lines that have for so long held Guyana back. The cost of doing otherwise could be too much.

The killing of a protester by the police, as well as the outbreak of violence between protesters and police ranks, shows what is at stake.

Not only should citizens be entitled to protest peacefully without fear of lethal force, but police officers should not be subject to interference in the exercise of their duties. We must question whether police are properly trained in the use non-lethal force, in a context in which protests are a foreseeable part of the landscape, even as we condemn reports that officers were subject to attack.

For now, it seems the adage “more money, more problems” has proven frightfully true. Instead of uniting to take advantage of an expected windfall from energy resources, the country is falling apart at the seams.

While Guyana is a sovereign state and other nations should be loath to intervene in its affairs, Guyana itself has acknowledged the important role played by the international community in elections, as well as its own affairs. Indeed, the presence of international observers from an array of international bodies testifies to the crucial fact that elections always need independent, outside authorities to confirm that they have been free and fair.

Now is not the time for Guyana to turn its back on the nations that have all expressed serious concerns over the elections process. To do so would be to simply isolate itself in a world where, as the coronavirus outbreak has shown, we need cooperation across borders more than ever.

It would be worthwhile for the authorities to consider the joint statement issued on Friday in which US, British, Canadian and EU officials said they were worried about alleged electoral fraud influencing the result of the vote. Of key importance is the fact that Caricom, too, expressed concern and called for calm.

With the tinderbox of race threatening to paralyse the system of government for whichever entity that gets into power (the Government and Opposition are currently aligned between persons of African descent and persons of East Indian descent respectively) Guyana needs impartial, independent bodies to untangle this mess. That includes international bodies like Caricom with its Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), to which Guyana has voluntarily subscribed through treaty and law.